(see their buttons above this post). Then link up your cookies on any one of our sites, and they will be visible on all of our sites! That’s like entering 6 linky parties for the price of one! 🙂 Please spread the word so everyone can join in the fun.

If you’re aren’t new to my blog, this recipe won’t be new to you, but I have some new pictures to show you. This recipe dates back to the days when I was painting green angels and yellow snowmen, but has been a long-lasting tradition in my home. Over the years, my sisters and I have created many masterpieces. Recently, I discovered that my artistic nieces inherited the insanity gene. I want to show you their gorgeous cookies:

These are by my college-aged niece, Kalen. She has been able to draw better animals than I can since the time she was 4. Look at the shading she did on that reindeer cookie! Ah-maz-ing!

Her sister, Trysten, has the insanity gene, too. Note how carefully each light and cranberry (it looks like a cranberry garland to me) were added.

Here is my mom, in action a couple of years ago (two of the children are mine, the blondie is my niece). Isn’t she amazing!?! What the recipe doesn’t say is that you will have to roll the dough out again and again, to try and use every last scrap (unless you let your kids eat them all). Watch not to let them burn. Since they are thin cookies, you are only looking for a slight browning around the edges.

Here are some of my Halloween cookies baked and ready to go.

Now for the Frosting…but first a note:

The frosting calls for raw egg whites. My family has used the raw eggs for years, and I am not aware of a single issue with salmonella (or anything else), but you can substitute Meringue Powder like this, for the eggs if you are at all concerned. That is what I did with my Halloween cookies, just to be sure my auction and giveaway winners wouldn’t be getting sick on my watch!

You can buy Meringue Powder wherever cake decorating products are sold. I actually got mine at Walmart. I haven’t done an official taste test, but I think the frosting ends up tasting a little better with the eggs. But it is up to you. You decide!

So here is the recipe with the eggs: Substitution information is on the Meringue Powder can.

CHRISTMAS COOKIE FROSTING:

MIX together in mixing bowl:

2 egg whites

1 t. vanilla or almond flavoring

2 C powdered sugar

1 1/2 T water

BEAT at HIGH SPEED until it turns white and thick

FROST cookies and let sit until completely dry

THIN down some of the frosting and ADD coloring to make paint to put details on the cookies.

The frosting should look kind of like this (but maybe not as messy as mine.):

We usually start with a plain white coat on all of the cookies. It makes sure they all get enough frosting and gives you a blank canvas to paint on. Just make sure you let them dry well before painting, like so:

In this is a picture I am mixing food coloring with the frosting to get ready to paint. I was going for purple and ended up adding way too much color and ending up with a dark charcoal gray. Fortunately, it was Halloween, so that was just fine!

So do this, but add less color. Depending on how thick you make the frosting, initially, and what type of food coloring you use, you may not even need to water down the frosting. You don’t want it to be too runny!

Mix all of your colors in their own little containers, and then using clean paint brushes, go to town! Remember to let each color dry a bit before attempting to paint a new color on top or next to it. (unless you are 2 and just having fun…)

Don’t be disappointed if you do this with your kids and end up with green angels and yellow snowmen. That is half of the fun! And kids LOVE to paint! You don’t have to be a detailed perfectionist to make these cookies! It is just that as my sisters and I got older, we started trying to see how detailed we could make the cookies (don’t blame me, I’m the fourth sister…I was still in the green angel stage when that insanity first appeared.) One trick is to use a very fine brush and paint details with plain black food coloring, instead of mixing black frosting. Try not to use a lot of the food coloring, though. It takes longer to dry and will get on everything (including faces)! If you try to paint each cookie this way, you’d better plan a full week of cookie decorating, but it is always fun to try and make at least one cookie extra special.

What cookie chaos goes on in your home? Now it’s time to join in the party below! Have fun drooling over all of the yummy cookies! Here’s a button to help you spread the word:

If you are looking to improve your baking skills, don’t forget to enter the amazing

Serena told Stephanie and I the stories of the 4 hours of cookie decorating to get 2 done…how long did the ones you paint this year take? I spent 4 hours to paint about a million. Lots were BYU blue and decorated! 🙂